‘Out Of My Mind’ Film Adaptation In The Works At Disney+ With Newcomer To Star, Amber Sealey To Direct

deadline.com:

Disney+ will adapt Sharon M. Draper’s Out of My Mind from page to screen as an upcoming movie. The project comes from Big Beach, Participant, EveryWhere Studios LLC and Disney Branded Television.

Amber Sealey (No Man of God) will direct from an adapted screenplay written by Daniel Siepleman (Humanitas Prize winner for On the Basis of Sex).Disney Branded Television’s take on the award-winning novel follows multitalented 12-year-old Melody Brooks, a girl with cerebral palsy, played by newcomer Phoebe-Rae Taylor who was cast in the lead role following a worldwide search.Melody has a quick wit and sharp mind, but due to her being non-verbal and using a wheelchair, she is not given the same academic opportunities as her classmates.

However, when a young educator notices her student’s untapped potential, she encourages Melody to participate in mainstream education, where greater successes – and challenges – await.The production team includes multiple people from the cerebral palsy and AAC (augmentative and alternative communication device) community, who have been involved from the earliest stages of development.Academy Award nominee Peter Saraf will produce the project with Dan Angel and Participant.

Executive producers are Big Beach’s Michael B. Clark and Alex Turtletaub, Participant’s founder Jeff Skoll and Robert Kessel, along with Tom Mazza, David Calver Jones and Brian Gott.Davis said:”There’s a sense of exhilaration here as we embark with this very well-regarded creative team in adapting Sharon Draper’s candid, beautiful and powerful book that tells a universally relatable story about both following your dreams and having an impact in this world.